Fables and Folktales and the Stories of Philip Pullman
A five day residential course at Le Verger, in the heart of the Burgundy countryside, from June 14th to June 20th 2009
On the first page of his first book for children, Count Karlstein, Philip Pullman has Hildi, the innkeeper's daughter, recall winter nights in the tavern parlour when glasses were full and pipes were being smoked and ‘there was a good story to be told’.
Good stories and good storytelling are as much loved by Pullman as by Hildi and he can be found time and again asserting their importance. ‘After nourishment’ he once said, ‘and shelter and companionship stories are the thing we need most in the world. Without stories we wouldn’t be human beings’; and in his own published work he has exhibited aspect after aspect of the storyteller’s repertory -- of how stories can be made to work.
The intention behind this June Seminar in Burgundy is to examine and discuss not just the different facets of his own writing but also their relationship to the storytelling traditions within which he works. Participants will be expected to join the Course with as complete a reading of his children’s books as is possible, while having, at the same time ideas of their own about the heterogeneous nature of the storytelling tradition, whether in the varieties of folktale or in the popular written tradition. (And, while pipe-smoking has attracted opprobrium towards such as sat around in Hildi’s mum’s inn, full glasses are still not to be frowned on and who is to say that attenders will not have a chance to study those products for which the site of the Seminar has some claim to fame.)
Course leader and Organisers
Brian Alderson
The course is led by Brian Alderson, founder of the Children’s Books History Society, President of the Beatrix Potter Society and for 20 years Children’s Books Editor for The Times. In 1968 Brian was awarded the Eleanor Farjeon Award from the Children's Book Circle and in 2008 Be Merry & Wise (a study of early English children's books in the Pierpont Morgan Library) gained the Harvey Darton Award. In 2003 Brian was awarded, honoris causa, a doctorate of the University of Surrey. He was especially honoured to receive a Visiting Fellowship at Yale University's Beinecke Library in 2006. Brian has been visiting professor at UCLA and at the University of Southern Mississippi.
During his twenty year teaching career at the School of Librarianship in London Brian undertook translations from the German and the Danish, paying special attention to the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. These were in part a result of his editing of new, annotated reprints of five of the Colour Fairy Books by Andrew Lang, alongside which he was also editing ‘The Juvenile Library’, a series of facsimiles of early children's books, with full explanatory data by individual scholars.
While at the University of Southern Mississippi Brian wrote a two-volume study of Ezra Jack Keats, drawing upon the Keats archive in the De Grummond Collection. He also spent a year in New York, working with Felix de Marez Oyens on a major exhibition of early English children's books in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Be Merry & Wise; the origins of children's book publishing in England 1650-1850. (The catalogue of that show was eventually published as an expansive study by the British Library in 2006.) This was only one of a dozen or so exhibitions which Brian has organised, several, such as Looking at Picture Books (1973-4) and Sing a Song for Sixpence (1986-7), have investigated the nature of book illustration and generated discursive catalogues.
As well as his translation of Grimm and a version of the Arabian Nights, both illustrated by Michael Foreman, Brian has published several other books for child readers, such as a nursery-rhyme book, with Helen Oxenbury: Cakes and Custard; verse by Edward Lear as A Book of Bosh; and the Andersen translations: The Swan's Stories, with Chris Riddell. A picture book, The Tale of the Turnip was illustrated by Fritz Wegner.
Rosemary Stones
The course is organised by Rosemary Stones, Editor since 1996 of the children’s books review journal Books for Keeps. Rosemary’s career in children’s books began in the ‘70s and ‘80s when she was a critic, reviewer and campaigner against race, class and gender bias in children’s literature. She was co-founder of the alternative children’s book award, The Other Award (for ‘progressive books of literary merit’). In the ‘90s Rosemary was appointed Editorial Director for Fiction and Non-Fiction at HarperCollins and then Associate Publisher at Penguin Children’s Books.
Rosemary’s publications about children’s books include: Pour Out the Cocoa, Janet: Sex Role Presentation in Children’s literature; A Multi-Ethnic Booklist; Ms Muffet Fights Back; Children’s Books about Bullying. Her books for children include Don’t Pick on Me, It’s Not Your Fault, My Stepfamily and Rosie’s First Day at School.
Alan Ravenscroft
The course is facilitated by Television Producer Alan Ravenscoft.
Alan started out as a film editor on Arts programmes. Early credits include profiles of jazz and blues singer George Melly, Dadaist Hans Richter and choreographer Maurice Béjart. He has since worked as a Director and Producer on everything from adventure films for National Geographic in India and Antarctica to current affairs location reports from Northern Ireland, Yemen, Mexico and Zimbabwe. He also produced the very first television series about English people buying and renovating property abroad, A House in France (which was filmed at Le Verger).
Alan’s most recent credit is for James Martin’s Mille Miglia which was shown on BBC2 last Christmas. He has just completed post production on a jazz concert shot in Rio de Janeiro.
Participants
The course is aimed at enthusiasts who may have an academic or professional interest in children’s literature. A nurturing and informal environment is provided at Le Verger where participants can feel at home while enjoying expert tuition in a relaxing rural setting.
Relevance of the Course to Teachers and to the Curriculum
Teachers cannot help children to develop as readers if they have not themselves been immersed in books and ideas. This course provides total immersion via an approach that is involving, challenging, highly informative and enjoyable. The course is very much in the spirit of the revisions to National Curriculum which aim to encourage a more flexible and creative approach to teaching and learning.
The course aims to give teachers and others the confidence and knowledge to support children’s developing enjoyment of and response to stories.
Many teachers follow the 2006 Primary Framework for Literacy and Mathematics which includes in its 12 strands for literacy:
7. Understanding and interpreting texts
8. Engaging with and responding to texts
9. Creating and shaping texts
The course is highly relevant to these strands as it involves a great deal of reading and discussion (a reading list is provided prior to the course). The Framework’s units on ‘Narrative’ include the study of particular authors and the course contributes very directly to the kind of background knowledge required. As well as Philip Pullman’s oeuvre, there is discussion of novels both for children and adults which make for interesting parallels and contrasts with Pullman’s work. The nature of narrative and story telling are explored via exploration of the tales of Perrault, the Grimm brothers, Joseph Jacobs and Hans Christian Andersen. The metaphysical novel and its manifestation in Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ are also explored. There are opportunities for participants to have a go at storytelling themselves.
The course will be particularly valuable for teachers who are English co -coordinators or subject managers. They will return to their school inspired by all that they have experienced and talked about and be in a strong position to help and inspire other teachers.
Timetable
Participants will arrive at Le Verger during the afternoon of Sunday June 14th and have a chance to settle in and meet each other over aperitifs and dinner.
The course runs from Monday 15th to Friday 19th June. Each morning there will be a seminar from 9am -12pm (with a coffee break) followed by lunch. In the afternoons there will be additional seminars as well as time to relax by the pool or join a group excursion. Burgundy is renowned for its Romanesque architecture, chateaux, food and wine and there will be visits to some of the many local places of interest.
In the evenings after dinner there will be an opportunity for discussions of themes arising from seminars, group storytelling and games. On the evening of Friday 19th June there will be a farewell dinner. Participants will leave on Saturday 20th June after breakfast.
Places for this course are limited. Successful applicants will be provided with a reading list, suggestions for preparatory work and a full timetable.
Costs and Application form
The all inclusive (tuition, excursions, accommodation, food and drink) price of the course is either £850 (single bedroom) or £750 (shared bedroom).
Download, print and return this application form with your deposit to 7 Siddons Court, 39 Tavistock St., London WC2E 7NT.
Course organiser: Rosemary Stones, 7 Siddons Court, 39 Tavistock St., London WC2E 7NT; email: piazza@btinternet.com; tel: 020 7240 2674.